Silver Lining
by Cuzosu
Summary: Tseng left a file in General Sephiroth's office, and now Reno has to sneak in, get the file, and get out. With help from a corner no one was expecting, Reno just might make it out alive. Yaoi implications, strong language, a nearly naked blond.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my imagination is a strange, twisted thing...

A/N: Feidreva on The Seventh Heaven was nice enough to give me the requirements, and, um, apparently I really had her on a Cid in underwear binge for a while. XD

Requirements:  
>1. Cid in underwear<br>2. puppy eyes  
>3. guy of your choice singing in the shower<br>4. ice skates

Setting: Tseng sends Reno on a TURK mission to retrieve something (a file or object) that was forgotten in Sephiroth's office. He may have the unexpected help of someone who is not a TURK.

WARNING:  
>Part I contains: a naked blond, swearing, and...odd humor<p>

Silver Lining: Part I

"Yo, what's up, Boss?" asked Reno, traipsing into Tseng's office and slouching casually against a wall. Technically, Reno knew, Tseng wasn't in command of the TURKs...but it was only a matter of time. And besides, the redhead only answered regularly to the dark-haired man currently in front of him if he had anything to say about it (and Reno always had something to say), and that had made an impact on what existed of Reno's obedience.* Besides, Tseng had helped train the hyperactive TURK.  
>The Wutaian man didn't miss the sharp eyes that noted every little detail, including the one lock of raven hair that was no longer of a length to be tied back with the rest. Alas, his enemy had been fast, the mission requiring a personal kill, and the knife sharp enough that Tseng counted himself lucky he hadn't lost a lot more hair. Still and all, though...<br>"Reno, you are familiar with General Sephiroth, are you not?" This was more statement than query, as Tseng knew damn well the redhead was the most social TURK and often went barhopping with the silver-haired officer and other SOLDIERs, if mostly those of the First Class alone.  
>"This mission involves Sephiroth, yo? I hope this isn't a normal TURK mission, Boss," admitted the hyperactive TURK. "He'd either kick my ass or kill me, yo, and I know you don't like to waste our lives." Ever astute in some ways (and totally oblivious in others), Reno spoke only the truth in this, because he knew Tseng and he knew Sephiroth.<br>Tseng waved aside his concerns. "No, but there's the matter of a file that was left in his office after a meeting earlier, and I need it to brief the bosses in the morning."

It turned out that the file was on ShinRa-employed scientists, which bored Reno almost to tears. Science wasn't his thing. Fighting and sneaking were much more up his alley. Well, and assassination, but he was a TURK, after all.  
>"Fuckin' psycho bastards," muttered the redhead. "'specially that Hojo, yo." Shaking his head, he decided he'd do a little recon before so much as entering the silver-haired general's office.<br>Sephiroth wasn't old, Reno wasn't as stupid as his impatience made him seem, and the general had a habit of finding some really NASTY consequences for people who did things he didn't want them to. The redhead had no intention of being among them. Again.**  
>So he walked past, noted carefully that the general was in residence-or rather, in office-and blithely continued on past. He noticed a few other ShinRa employees in the lounge, frowned as a thought struck him, and sauntered over.<br>There was a blond present the redhead had gone on drinking binges with before, so Reno meandered over, started up a conversation and enlisted a little help. Sephiroth would not see this coming. This was underhanded even for a TURK. But Reno would do what he had to in order to complete his missions, and this needed to be done.***

Sephiroth was at his desk, somewhat pissed off at the ridiculous amounts of paperwork that still remained in front of him. "Hell," he muttered. "Who wants to see all these damn papers, anyways?" Silver hair swayed as he shook his head.  
>He understood the necessities of paperwork only slightly better than the TURK Reno did. The devil was in the details, after all. But most of the reports and paperwork could be explained in person, conveying much more detail and wasting less time. Reports took time to write, to read, to share, to decipher... It was inefficient.<br>Taking a deep breath, the SOLDIER pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes screwed shut with annoyance. When he exhaled, there was a momentary pause before he opened his eyes.  
><em>What-WHO THE HELL!<em>  
>Not a heartbeat passed ere the silver-haired general was on his feet and dodging obstacles, chasing the man who had the balls to moon him and leave a print of his ass on Sephiroth's inside office window. Still, he was fast on his feet. He'd caught the general so off guard that the only thing marking his trail was a distinctive scent.<br>One booted foot kicked the door to the bathroom open, and General Sephiroth stalked inside, ready and willing to beat the living daylights out of whoever the hell it was he was following. No one was immediately visible, which meant that someone was in a stall or in a vent. If it was a TURK, the vent was more likely. TURKs were sneaky, assassins and spies for such a portion of their work that it carried over to the rest of it, and often personal lives as well.  
>Sephiroth opened stall doors one after another until he found the one he was looking for, and then he stopped. Just...stopped.<br>Cid Highwind was totally unperturbed, cigarette in his mouth and clad only in underwear. "Ya gonna let me finish getting dressed again?" he asked, mocking laughter in his eyes.  
>Confounded and inexplicably wary of a man who'd be dead within seconds if it came to a fight, Sephiroth stepped back and let the stall door close. "You mooned me." The tone said he wanted to know why.<br>"Yup," said Cid, puffing on his cigarette as he donned pants and belt again.  
>"Why?"<br>Though the general couldn't see him, the pilot shrugged. "That redheaded TURK, he's a crazy one." Another puff on the cigarette. "Asked me to distract you so he could get into and outta your office." A deep breath through the cigarette, then a soft exhalation. Smoke drifted, teasing Sephiroth's nose. "Guess ya don't make TURK if ya ain't got balls," laughed Cid.  
>It took a second for the words to get through to the general, who was preoccupied with the scent of cigarette smoke. There was something strangely familiar about it...<br>"Wait, what? Shit!" Silver hair whipped behind him as Sephiroth darted through the halls back to his office, cursing his distraction.

*Most of it having been slaughtered long since, of course, by Reno or others.  
>**The first time had been a mistake, and taken place in a bar, wherein he'd been succeeding in his goal of drinking himself under the table.<br>***Which part needed to be done is for the readers to decide, lol. I could (and did) have several options to choose from.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: And here you see me writing worse yet to poor Reno...

WARNING: yaoi implications, swearing, and pain that makes me sympathize with Reno. Still another couple plot twists left, believe it or not.

Silver Lining: Part II

Reno was glad he'd had a backup plan. _No backup plan=toast.*_  
>As reckless as the redhead seemed, he truly didn't have a death wish, and being caught by General Sephiroth with no backup plan would have been a fair equivalent. So he'd plotted. Granted, his mental layouts tended to be unspecific and vague, but Reno knew better than anyone that things tended to go awry when he was there. This being his mission, how could Reno be absent and still get his work done?<br>So when the sound of feet pounding towards the general's office was heard, Reno cursed and fell into escape mode, file instantly tucked into an inner pocket meant for his spare EMR, which was currently being repaired. Knowing the silver-haired SOLDIER was aware of TURK procedures and sneak tactics, the redhead did what most would call suicidal. Thankfully, he'd prepared for this occurrence earlier.

The first thing Sephiroth saw when he stormed into his office was a broken window and a gleam of Mako. Vaulting his desk, he noticed the missing file and caught a glimpse of red hair as it hurtled away.  
>"Damn!" It took him a moment to realize why there were odd lines cut into his floor, even with the ice outside his window. "He was wearing ice skates? Gaia, Tseng wasn't joking when he said Reno was unpredictable." <em>Who the hell wears ICE SKATES, of all things, in ShinRa headquarters?<em>  
>Reno had a reputation for reacting and not thinking things through, but it was obvious to the general that at least half of that was misdirection only. <em>He calculated how thin the ice had to be in order to hold him but not me.<em> This, in Sephiroth's book, was quite impressive. _No wonder Tseng sent him..._  
>It would be distracting, but Sephiroth would have to cast Ice3 in order to follow quickly enough to catch the TURK. In all probability, this had been Reno's plan from the start: to wear him out and then take to his heels and make it out alive. But Sephiroth wasn't a SOLDIER First Class, much less a general, for nothing.<p>

Reno chanced a glance over his shoulder, paled, and swore. _He's gaining. Better wing it._  
>It wasn't the first time Reno had been on the losing end of a mission. It wasn't even the first time he'd been chased by General Sephiroth. It was, however, a first for the combination of the two events.<br>Quick eyes flicking over the people moving around ShinRa Headquarters, Reno noted his partner, Rude. _Gotcha,_ he grinned to himself. With a swift dash, he adjusted his path...  
>Rude had only a glimpse of oncoming red hair and a suit before he found himself flat on the ground, Reno atop him. It couldn't be said to be the first time, nor would it be the last, although later tonight would be a different story. And then he heard the words being whispered in his ear.<br>With a groan, the bald man shoved the redhead off him, lumbered to his feet, adjusted the sunglasses the fall had knocked askew, and growled at Reno. "Can't you at least TRY not to annoy the rest of us when you're evading Tseng?"  
>A yelp escaped Reno as he was summarily hauled towards the building by his ear. Hands waving frantically as he tried to balance on ice skates, Reno alternated whining and curses as Rude dragged him in the direction of Tseng's office. Unfortunately for the redhead's ear, Sephiroth had other ideas.<br>"Tell your boss I'm borrowing your partner," growled the general as he zoomed past, grabbing Reno and letting speed defeat the grasp the bald TURK had on the redhead's ear.  
>For his part, Reno swore vehemently, made outlandish threats to the general who had him by the arm, and was otherwise unhappy with the fact that his ear hurt and the mission was such a hassle. But there wasn't really much he could do as Sephiroth led him back to the office where this had all started...<p>

*Uhm... I had a thought, it twisted, warped, and suddenly I end up with this mental image of Seph eating Reno-toast. XD *roflmao* I loved it, needless to say, lol. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Bless Fei for loving me despite my tendency towards bad puns.

WARNING: contains mature language, yaoi references, off-key singing, disturbing humor, and finishes up with the mother of all bad puns.

Silver Lining: Part III

"Yo! Let me go!" snarled Reno, even as Sephiroth hauled him along by the arm. As they passed the floor for SOLDIERs, there came the sound of off-key warbling.  
><em>Who's trying to sing Breaking Benjamin's "Evil Angel"? Whoever it is, they're failing horribly...<em>  
>It was somewhat muffled due to distance, although it mostly succeeded in drowning out* the sound of water running in the form of a shower, and Reno couldn't help but try to pull toward the noise as it turned into a rather girly shriek. However, Sephiroth stopped him.<br>"Trust me, you don't want to interrupt that."  
>"Interrupt what?"<br>"Zack sings in the shower when he's in a good mood. Angeal makes a habit of finding a way to spook him to shut him up when he sings in the shower. They fight a bit, and... Well, let's just say you don't want to be around when they start making up."  
>Reno blinked. "Oh."<br>Sephiroth took advantage of the redhead's sudden distraction to switch his grip to the redhead's ear and led Reno into his office. He shut the door behind them, eyes narrowing as he was forced to recall his broken window. This would be annoying until it was replaced. Paperwork might well have to be done elsewhere.  
>The redhead was muttering softly to himself. His ear ached terribly, both because of Rude's earlier manhandling and because Sephiroth had shifted his grip until he, too, was leading the redhead around by the ear. Reno supposed the handhold had changed in an effort to distract him from the singing. Both of Reno's hands were wrapped around the general's wrist in an attempt to remove a strong, gloved hand from his ear.<br>It was in vain, of course. Reno wasn't strong enough to make the silver-haired SOLDIER do anything. But he was trying.  
>Sephiroth sat Reno down forcefully in the chair. It amused him that the redhead was looking everywhere but at him. The look on his face was desperate.<br>When Reno shifted his gaze to fix puppy eyes on the floor as if hoping it would liquefy and let him sink through it, it was all Sephiroth could do not to laugh. But his amusement needed an outlet, so when Reno raised his eyes to stare searchingly for someone outside the office to ask for help, the silver-haired general spoke.  
>"The door's not going to save you, Reno." Sephiroth paused, and then said, "Before you wind up making a fool of yourself, there are factors you should understand."<br>Reno paused. _Uh...what?_ To say that he was surprised would have been an understatement.  
>"First, you should be aware that Tseng left the file on my desk as an excuse to have you try to break into my office. Second, it was orchestrated with my full knowledge. And third, it was done at my request."<br>"What?" Reno wasn't quite sure could comprehend it. "So, you're saying it was all set up? Planned?"  
>Silver hair swayed as the general nodded. "I asked Tseng to make sure the break in was unpredictable. He chose you, using the excuse of a file he deliberately left here."<br>There was a brief pause as the redhead processed this. Then-  
>"Sonofabitch!" snarled Reno. "Why is it always me he manipulates most!"<br>Sephiroth blinked. "... Weren't you two partners at one time?"  
>Reno waved the fact aside, disgruntled. "He could have just ASKED me to test it!"<br>"My request was that the test be under the radar. I did not want my fellow SOLDIERs or your fellow TURKs asking questions or interfering." There was a pause. "By the way," added the general, "what DID you do with the file, anyway?"  
>A grin pasted itself across Reno's face. <em>Still haven't lost my touch, yo!<em> "Oh, I slipped it to Rude when I knocked him flat. 's why he grabbed me by the ear. But why did you change your grip from my arm to my ear?"  
>"I suspected it would help keep you a little more under control until I could talk to you." He smirked at the redhead's venomous, green-eyed glare. "It worked, so the tactic may be reused at need."<br>Reno sputtered curses at the silver-haired general, who was completely unmoved, if amused by the vehement and inventive words. It wasn't the first time he'd been cursed at, and, given that he fully intended to utilize the redhead's skills again in the future, he was sure it wouldn't be the last.  
>A cadet knocked on the door and was let in. He was blond, with spiked hair and an expression a little too cute for a SOLDIER. "Sir, you wanted to see me?" he asked, saluting.<br>Sephiroth nodded, had him sit at the desk, and said to Reno, "Tell your boss I appreciate him letting me borrow your skills."  
>The redhead pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and quite cheerfully blew smoke rings around himself. He nodded and left, not noticing that the smoke had formed a halo around him. As he walked through the halls to report to Tseng, a thought formed.<br>_I guess every Cloud has his silver lining.**_

*Another bad pun. Water reference, lol.  
>**As I warned you. The mother of all bad puns, lol. <p>


End file.
